Piaggio P.149

Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Piaggio (Focke-Wulf license) Model: P.149. Nickname: don’t know of one
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane SE Piston
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane SE Land
> Engine Description: Single

Aircraft Experience
> As of: 11/7/2024
> Number of Hours Flown: 4
> Number of Times Flown: 4
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: FW149

First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 187
> Date First Flown: 7/8/2022
> Location First Flown: Bremerton Airport, WA (KPWT)
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Jim Custis, as Formation Clinic

Recollections: The first question you’ll get if you stand by this airplane at an airshow is “Is that a Navion?”  The answer is no, though it certainly shares some of the basic configuration.  The next question, from a discerning airplane fanatic is “Is this a Focke-Wulf 149?”  Closer but, no…it’s a Piaggo 149, license built in Italy based on the FW149.

All my flying is with Jim Custis, a pilot and man who is an inspiration to me.  Jim, when I met him, was in his late 70’s.  He’s now in his 80’s but you’d never know it.  A retired Airline Captain who’s been flying his whole life, he continues to fly as a corporate pilot and owns a number of airplanes of various types.  I met him at a JLFC formation clinic (refer to my writeup on the Navion for more details on JLFC) and, even though he’d never flew formation, he quickly took to it.  He has continued to fly his Piaggio in formation, including a recent 2024 Oshkosh, where he became the unofficial winner of the “most trips around the sun prior to flying in the Oshkosh Warbird airshow”.